The president of Argentina urged world powers to refuse double standards

PARIS, March 20, /ITAR-TASS/. Argentina’s President Christina Fernandez de Kirchner called on Western powers on Wednesday to give up “double standards in dealing with issues related to territorial integrity,” referring to a situation with the Falkland Islands (the Malvinas).

“We are urging the world powers, when the territorial integrity of countries is in question, to apply this principle to everybody without exception because my country is being subject to territorial oppression on the part of Britain,” the Argentine president said after meeting her French counterpart Francois Hollande in Paris.

The Falkland Islands (the Malvinas) have been a disputable territory between Argentina and Britain for almost 200 years. The Falklands were the cause of an armed conflict between Britain and Argentina in 1982. In March 2013, a referendum on the archipelago’s status took place on the Falklands. The majority of the population voted for preserving the islands’ status of the overseas territory of the United Kingdom. Argentina refused to recognize the referendum’s results.

“However, the major powers, Great Britain and the United States in the first place, voiced their support for the referendum of the ‘keplers’ (the islands’ native population - a note by Itar-Tass) which has no legal force,” Christina Fernandez de Kirchner went on to say.

The president has compared the March 16 referendum in Crimea to the situation on the Falkland Islands.

She asked Western countries why they were refusing to recognize the referendum in Crimea, which is located just several kilometers away from Russia, as legitimate while recognizing the legitimacy of a referendum held in a colony located more than 13,000 kilometers away from Britain.

At the same time, Christina Fernandez de Kirchner said that all the differences over Crimea should be solved through peaceful talks.